Ballet is an art form that does not discriminate against gender.
A little girl dresses in a tutu and ballet shoes for a dance recital and the world applauds, but when a boy does the same, the cultural penalties are swift and harsh.
Amid the controversy that has arisen in the past few weeks surrounding Good Morning America host, Lara Spencer’s mockery of young Prince George’s study of ballet, a clear stance has emerged: there is a problem with people’s perceptions of ballet, not ballet itself. Spencer openly laughed when she explained that among other subjects, the young prince’s education would include ballet. She further commented “I have news for you, Prince William, we’ll see how long that lasts.”
As someone who has danced classical ballet my entire life, the sentiments expressed by Spencer, are anything but unfamiliar. Throughout my years as a dancer, I danced with countless young girls and women, but only had the opportunity to dance with a small handful of male dancers.
Before one can understand the small-minded comments made by Spencer, it is important to briefly understand the background of the stigma around boys in ballet. According to the Huffington Post, “There are 3.5 million children studying dance in the United States today, and of the ones who take ballet, only 10 percent are male. However, beyond making up only one-tenth of ballet dancers, male dancers face opposition from almost every angle- from their peers, parents, the media and more. In a study conducted by dance sociologist Doug Risner, a professor of dance at Wayne State University, only 32 percent of male dancers say their fathers support them dancing, and nearly 96 percent of all boys who dance have faced verbal and/or physical assaults from their peers. The teasing, ostracism, name-calling and physical abuse are motivated by false perception that ballet is only for girls.
This idea is intensified by the glorification of athletes that is ingrained into the social fabric of American culture. We swaddle infants in team blankets, push boys towards involvement in sports from an early age and surround young men with images of sports players— all in an effort to dissuade them from pursuing interests that society deems “unmanly.” We have somehow established that manhood is defined by involvement in masculine activities rather than the pursuit of one’s passions. What many people seem to overlook when they criticize male dancers is the commitment ballet requires. Like athletes, dancers sacrifice their time, effort and even their bodies to their art, with countless hours of concentration, practice, and performances.
We are told that doing what we love in life is the way to achieve happiness, but children are constantly pushed away from their artistic passions because of the fear of ridiculement and harassment by their peers, parents and apparently TV hosts. This double standard needs to change. Gender norms serve the sole purpose of constricting human expression, and it’s time we break them down. In 2019, there is no reason a child’s artistic passion should become the punch-line of a joke, and there’s no reason kids can’t be free to choose what makes them happy, whether its football or ballet.
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